Il dipinto raffigura un fiore giallo.

The painting depicts a yellow flower.

Breakdown of Il dipinto raffigura un fiore giallo.

• il fiore: the flower
• giallo: yellow
• il dipinto: the painting
• raffigurare: to depict

Questions & Answers about Il dipinto raffigura un fiore giallo.

What does the verb raffigura mean and how is it used?

Raffigura is the third-person singular present tense of raffigurare, which means “to depict” or “to portray.” It’s a transitive verb, so it directly takes an object. For example:
Il dipinto raffigura un fiore giallo.
(The painting depicts a yellow flower.)

Why is there no preposition between raffigura and un fiore giallo?

In Italian, transitive verbs like raffigurare can directly take a direct object without any preposition. The structure is simply:
subject + verb + direct object
You don’t need “to” or “of” as in English.

Why is the noun dipinto masculine and why is il used?

Dipinto (“painting”) is a masculine noun in Italian. All masculine singular nouns use the article il. There is no feminine counterpart here; the word dipinto itself is fixed as masculine.

Why do we say un fiore instead of il fiore or una fiore?

• fiore is masculine, so the correct indefinite article is un (not una).
• We use un because we’re introducing “a flower” in a general sense, not a specific flower already known to the listener.

Why is the adjective giallo placed after the noun fiore, and could it go before?

• In Italian, descriptive adjectives typically follow the noun they modify: fiore giallo.
• You could put giallo before the noun (­­un giallo fiore), but this sounds poetic or stylized. The standard, everyday order is fiore giallo.

Why is the adjective giallo in the masculine singular form here?

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Since fiore is masculine singular, the adjective is giallo.

• Feminine singular would be gialla
• Masculine plural gialli
• Feminine plural gialle

Are there alternative verbs I could use instead of raffigurare?

Yes. Common synonyms include:
• rappresentare – to represent; e.g. rappresenta un fiore giallo
• dipingere – to paint; e.g. dipinge un fiore giallo (focuses on the act of painting rather than just the depiction)

How do I pronounce Il dipinto raffigura un fiore giallo?

Approximate pronunciation using English sounds:
il di-PIN-to raf-FI-gu-ra un FYO-re DZHAL-lo
• dipinto: di-PIN-to
• raffigura: raf-FI-gu-ra
• fiore: FYO-re
• giallo: DZHAL-lo